Time-calling device for telephones.



E. ROGERS.

TIME CALLING DEVICE FOR TELEPHONES. APPLICATION man JUNE i3, 191's.

L MQOI Patented Oct. 23,1917.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

[ DEVICE TELEPHONE J wuawltom E. ROGERS.

TIME CALLING DEVICE FOR TELEPHONES. APPLICATION Hm JUNE 13. I916.

Patented Oct. 23,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E. ROGERS.

TIME CALLING DEVICE FOR TELEPHONES.

APPLICATION FILED .IUNE I3| I9I6.

Patented Oct. 23, 1917.

w m h 3 3 I 4 f7 4 7 n I I I 9 I A/ ,1 m m2 w Mwflm 3 5 fvl x u i x .I.3 WW w 0 n H w %z w w r 4 i z w 4 A 5 en srnrne A1E @FMQE MARTIN, ,or0111 T n-oALLIne-pnmo ASSIGN on or .oNm ALEm reenest cAgo. ILLINOIS v EFomT cL R iQNES -iL Applicatio'n'file lunejlafllllfii'zs. Serial NOE11039482.; i

To all whom it may cnncernn;

Be-a'it: knoWni-thiit I; En mnngRoenng a; citizen of the UnitedSta/cegresid'in gilt-,Chlfcago, in the county 'ofCook and State ofll-lianois,have invented certain new- II-1d: useful-1:

Improvements in :KIime-Calling Devices; for 1."

Telephones,enofzjwhich thea-follblvingsiisa. n e specification; Myinvention 'relatesx'to :n ewi and useful improvements in -te'lephoneattachments, they primary object of myc1inveI-1-ti0n; beingsatheaaprovision of-zwhat 'l termra time callihgrde-w vice; which may beemployed in. tconnection. with-Fa irtelephone system:. .and iwhichr'is;pa-blelof 1 being cut: in and :ou-t oflcircnit withfx the line-.1:

Frequentlml a, subscriber-a repeatedly rate? tempts to call anothersubscriber WhO51dHI'i ing the time, =.is out... Mywinventioni is Ede-isigned; to sautomzrtically transmitsa :signal: to thecalling-subscriber:of such'n ch-arnctenp as to: indicate :at What timethersubscriberw Whose station -is abein'g called iwillf be T abletoanswer. In other Words, device/is of'y sucha natureithntthesperson'havi-ng it in-m connection within telephoneinstrument may,when leaving" the building,- lcut whet device into the:te'lephone:circuitlthereb cutting? out the telephone -and sset thedevice toatrans,; 3 init a s gnal indicating any desired theme; ofthe;da v,xthe signaling mechanism abe-i'ngza so rmnged as m-be releasedandv :operate'd upon the closing of-rthevte'le'phone circuit: such asoccurs when one subscriber nczrllsf anal f other. 7

More specifically 'myw'invention 'icolnprehends a movablecontactmzirryi-ng member having a :pluralit'v zof-wcontaots .nrra-ngedinn series and :an: adjnstablewcontaet member having'racontectwmovableto project r -iIitoi-. the path o'f-the conta'cts of any-desiredseriesl=- and'tlie provision of means fer releasing-{ind 11 driving themovable" contactcarryingomemeL ber when a circuit :is closed through:the in? strnment; t x One; of the objects of myvinvention" con-e sists"in providingeach! ofiimy'xtiznieucallinge devices within "buzzerzornother sonn'd: produc-Y ingr device which may a'be-venergized by ene;gagement of r'these :contacts #:with. entrails-1 mitte'r connected;when= the:v device =is 1:in-;z operation; in :the telephonecircuitwsoiithatE signals sounded bimthe ibHZZtiI'J'Wrill; be ntfianseremitted tonth'e telephoneq instrument tofita'any yv.

'statibn upon'thefilinem theeshait membeeeneed; qeb ll eheAfstillzfurther object fimy invention cone ists in:p ov ding means-a mete al y locking the; mevable .contactearryiang- -meI- b n after thesgnal zhasibeenlgivemi o d that, the deivice qm'ily; again -0per2tte if:an-;--;;g other-subscriber should callith e same station.

l/Viththese and other'iobjects in view my invention will be more :fullytdescr ibed gillus tie-ted in the;1accompanying;drawings sgnd enspeeifically peintec1;;,o1 1ti thel claims 1 16 i h e a h d tdia lra rmspen- 319f thisapplieetien. 1 i

nthedraWi-nfgeat Fig; 3 :is; a corresponding sectiongll {View taken 01'thei ne :b r v Fig et isi ainontwelevation, xviztlr pe rt -pf tfl 5$he casing b o ntaway 'ishqwr er e d g, tailSEdIlyStIEHCtllIfQ; i

Wiringgofthezdevicejw Fig: 7 is; ;a dia gra m ne-tic view-oi the win ingg of esnbscribei s gsta; ion equipped; with; my'invention.

Corresponding end likevparts ane referredefizrg to in the followingdescription-find(indi catedi'zin e112 4the;-;vie ws- ;of, i-thednewinggby the-tasamekre-ferenee ChiIiIZZICtQTSr- My imp roVed-Fti meballing 5 deviceinelu (les; a suitable; electriea-llyoperatedrniec-henism4 );v Which:;is pre{erebly -inelosedinf n cnsing lQ rWhichflnay be r-formedmof wanv desired terial; an d the zfnent w-all 11;got which isfzprQ: vided with; at pireulengopening;;l2 to-irecei ves Vthe reta ni str g 3 acon n l: fo miwn of;.'c1-ock-;dial 1%. closedbyqaigl'QSSr face pl 15in Secured to -the ;inne rfnce l-ofi the wells isan ibta'ek t' =16 f: .1 wt gzmete i W i hi inclndesethea speeedsupporting plates 1'2 j oinedmt their fle -er deeprev de tube-5 0% 1211'sleeve 18, iverticnllwdisposed within the casin Awbezbni ng lflg-is;fitted-, in-;;thg, f W351; lie: ofv the bracket; w t-and a bearingracket 2Q is secured ;t -.;.th e g rean 1 plate, shaft 50 :E EbQ ET EL ief 'n g j onrneled in these 1 (1:5 bearings and provided with a jndi fihandzrQZii pnoiectin g throu the dial la n d thronghathee a en tetiflndical lsylll 'ltjtfi uter nfliumillec WW3 by meens o Whighc- 22opposite any desired division or fractional division of the dial.\Vithin the easing, the shaft 21 carries a pinion 24 which meshes withthe teeth of a rack bar 25 having a cylindrical lower portion which isslidably mounted in a contact sleeve 26 of brass or other suitable metalfixed within the insulating sleeve 18 by means of a set screw 27. Thisrack bar, at its lower terminal, is provided with a rearwardly directed,preferably resilient, contact finger or brush 28.

Front and rear frame plates 29 and 30 are supported upon the bottom ofthe casing 10 and journal a shaft 31 about which is wound a spiralspring 32, one end of which is fixed to the shaft and the other end ofwhich is fornted to provide a loop 33 through which is passed ananchoring rod 34 carried by the frame members 29 and 30. Loosely mountedupon the shaft 81, is a spur gear 35 and fixed upon the shaft is aratchet wheel 36. The gear carries a pawl 37 which is constantly held inengagement with one or another of the teeth of the ratchet wheel by aspring 38 also carried by the gear. Because of this arrangement, theshaft 81 may be turned in one direction to tension the spring 32 withoutturning of the gear, while the shaft can turn in the other directiononly if the gear is free to turn. The forward end of the shaft issquare, as shown at 89 in Fig. 5, to receive a winding key 40, the shankof which may be passed through an opening 41 formed in the front of thecasing for this purpose. A second shaft 42 is mounted in the plates 29and 30 and carries a pinion 43 meshing with the gear 85 and a gear atwhich meshes with a pinion 45 carried by a shaft 46 mounted in theplates, all of these shafts extending parallel to each other.

Fixed upon the forward end of the shaft 46, is a contact carrying memberor disk 47. the peripheral edge of which is provided with a notch 49 toseat the free end of a. combined latch and armature 50 which is pivotedupon a bracket 51 carried by the plate 30 but insulated therefrom, asshown at 52. A second bracket 53 is carried by but insulated fromtheplate 29 and a helical spring 5% is connected at one end to thissecond bracket and at its other end to the latch and armature 50 tonormally hold its terminal in the notch 49 and so hold the disk 47against rotation. due to the action of the spring 32. Obviously. if thislatch is released. the spring 32 will act through the train of gears andpinions. above described, to rotate the disk 47 until such rotation isstopped by reen ae'ement with the latch in the notch of the disk.

Arranged upon or formed integrally with thecontact carryin disk 47 are aplurality of contacts adanted to be engaged by the contact brush 28.These contacts are ar ranged in radially spaced series, the contacts ofeach series being circumferentially spaced and curved from end to end sothat they are concentric with respect to the disk, as clearly shown inFig. 4. Certain of these contacts, as the contacts 55, are longer thanthe other contacts, such as the contacts 56, so that when the disk isrevolved and the contact brush 28 is in position to engage the contactsof any one of the series, the circuit will be successively closed andopened. the periods of time during which it is closed being dependentupon the length of the contacts engaged by the contact brush. Thecontact carrying disk shown in Fig. 4 is one having contacts arranged tosignal any hour and half hour. For instance, disposed next to the axisof the disk is a single long contact 55. If the contact brush carryingrod is lowered so that the brush will engaQe this inner long contact 55.the circuit will be closed but once for a rotation of the disk. The nextadjacent series consists of a single long contact 55 followed by a shortcontact 56, the next adjacent series of two long contacts 55. the nextseries of two long contacts and a short contact and the like, the outerseries consisting of twelve lone contacts followed by a short contact. The long contacts are intended to close circuits in such a manner as toindicate hours, each contact indicating one hour and the short contactsto indicate half hours. By adjusting the contact brush 28 to the properposition radially of the disk. the rotation of the disk will cause acircuit to be successively closed and opened. which will indicate thedesired hour and half hour hrough mechanism to be later described.Obviously. by governing the number of series and by having the shortcontacts indicate quarter hours and properly arranging such shortcontacts with re spect to the long contacts. circuit may be closed toindicate any desired time of the hour and quarter hour.

A battery 57 of any su table type is employed in connection with thisdevice and ma or may not be inclosed in the casing, as preferred. A wire58 leads from one pole of this battery to any suitable binding post 59carried by one of the plates 29 or 30, with the result that current mayflow from the battery to the disk 47 and contacts carr ed bv the disk. Asecond wire 60 leads from the opposite pole of the battery to one of thebinding posts of any suitable type of sound producing device, such as abuzzer 61' and a wire 62 leads from the other binding post ofthis buzzerto the set screw 27. As a result. whenever the brush 28 engages any oneof the contacts carried by the disk 47, a circuit will be closed fromthe battery through the wire 58. contact d sk and that contact on thedisk engaged by the brush 28, through the brush 28, Ted 25,-sleeve 26,

binding post 27, wire 62, buzzer 61, and

wire tothe battery.

Disposed within the casing with its mouthpiece in juxtaposition to thebuzzer :61, is a telephone transmitter 63 of conventional ing materialsecured within the casing and a wire leads from a second contact 71carried by the same bracket to an electromagnet 72 supported by abracket 73 car ried by the back plate 30, a wire 74 leading fromthsmae'net to the binding post 64. It will, therefore, be seen that if acircuit is closed, including the binding posts 64 and 66, bridging ofthe contacts v68and 71 will permit closing of a circuit through theelectro-magnet 72 and consequent attraction of its armature which is thecombined l'atch'and armature 50, previously de-v scribed. 'The closingof such a circuit will, therefore, act to release the disk-47 and permitits rotation through the action of the spring 32. The latch and armature.50 carries a sleeve 75 of insulating material which.

in turn carries a switch arm 7 6 formed with a laterally directed head77 having a downwardly projecting terminal 78 adapted inlowered positionof the armature to'bridge the contacts 68- and 71 and in attracted postion of the armature to engage the contact .68 alone. This laterallydirected head of the switch arm 76 is also formed with a contact stud 79adapted to engage in the socket of a contact forming bracket 80 securedto the bracket 17 of insulating material and connected to the wire 67bv-a branch wire 82. A conductor bracket 83 is secured to the plate 30,being insulated therefrom, as shown at 84, and-terminates in a contacthead 85 adapted to be engaged by the rod 76' when the armature-5'0 israised, due to swinging of the rod becauseof the pivotal mounting of thearmature. Awire 86 leads from this conductor bracket 83h) the bindingpost 65. Y

The above structure'comprises my time calling attachment; fortelephones. but before describing its operat on, I Wish to ex plain themanner in which it is connected in the telephone circuit with the usualtelephone instrument. For this purpose Iprovide a pivotally mountedsw'tch blade 87 towhich one of the telephone line wires 88 leads the:other telephone line-wire 89 leading directly to the telephone 90 inthelusual manner. Also mounted upon-the casing; at

one side of the; switch bladeare spaced. contacts 91 between which theswitch blade may bewedged and at the free s de 'ofthe switch blade,spaced contacts92alsoadapted tobe engaged by, the switch blade;.Atwireiare 93 leads from the contacts 91 to the telephone instrumentand with the switch blade in the position shown in Fig. 7 forms acontinuation of the line wire 88', my attachment being cut out when theswitch 87 is in the position there shown. A'wire 94 leadsfrom thecontacts 92 to .the binding post 66 and a wire 95 leads from thebindingpost 64: to the line-wire 89. 1

In describing the operatiorn I will first assume that my time callingdevice is connectedwith a telephone instrument in the manner shown inFig. 7. Under these conditions the device is inoperative as no currentpasses to it, the telephone instrument being directly connected with theline wires 88 and 89 through the switch 87 and wire 93. Under thesecircumstances, the telephone instrument will be employed in the usualman ner. If the telephonesubscriber at the station in which my device isinstalled expects to be absent forany length of time, such subscriberwill set the indicatinghandor needle 22 at the hour and fractional partof the hour of expected return and'will swing the switch 87 to aposition opposite that shown in Fig. 7. This setting of the indicatinghand 22 will bring thecon-tact brush 28 opposite the proper series oftimesignaling contacts upon the disk 47 while the changing of the switch87 will cutout the telephone instrument 90 and cut in -my callingdevice. Under these circumstances,

if central connects any calling subscriber with the telephone instrumentso set, current will pass over the line wire 88 through the switch 87and wire 94 to the binding post 66 of my device, from this binding postthrough the wire 67 and bridged contacts 68 and 71 and wire 71 to theelectro-1nagnet 7 2,

from this magnet through the wire 7% to a the binding post 64 and fromthe binding post 64 through the wire 95 to the return line .wire 89. Thecircuitthus closed will energize the magnet 72, raising the combinedlatch and armature 50. The raising of this armature will act to releasethe contact carrying disk 47, which will then be driven by the spring 32to move the contacts of the selected series successively into engagementwith the contact'brush 28 to close a certain predetermined s ries ofcircuits through the buzzer 61. At the same time, the raisingof thearmature 50 will raise the contact head 77 into engagement with thecontact SO-and the contact 85 and out of en-- gagementwith the eonta ct71, thereby breaking the circuit through the magnet and closmg a circuitfrom the linewirei 88, through the switch 87, wire 9%, wire67,.wir'e82,-con-atacts, 80', 77 and 85,.wire :86, transmitter and wire95 back to; the. return line. wire'89'.

This. circuit beingclosed; the'soundsxp-rd' duced by thebuzZerwillJbetransmitted over the line wireand heardby the. calling-when cuit throughthe transmitter between the contacts 77 and 80. and to bridge the contacts 68 and 71. By the time that the disk 47 has completed itsrevolution, however, a signal will have been received by the calling 4station and such station will have hung up its receiver and,consequently, cut off the line so that the magnet 71 will not bereenergized upon bridging of the contacts 68 and 71 unless the stationhaving my instrument is again called.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that I have provideda time signaling attachment for telephones which does not in any wayinterfere with the ordinary employment of the telephone which may be setby a subscriber in such a manner that another station calling asubscriber will be notified when to again call to find the party calledat home.

It will further be apparent that my device is so constructed that anydesired time of day or night may be signaled by it and so arranged thatwhen once set is automatic in its action, being set in action by theclosing of the circuit in which it is attached and acting toutomatically stop and reset itself after the signal has been given.Obviously, many changes in details of construction may be made withoutaffecting the operation of the device and T, therefore, reserve theright to make any changes. within the scope of the appended claims.without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. The combination with a telephone instrument and circuit therefor, ofa transmitter, an electro-magnet, means for cutting the telephoneinstrument out of the telephone circuit and the magnet into thetelephone circuit. a revolubly mounted contact carrying disk, meansconstantly tending to drive the disk, the disk carrying a plurality ofseries of spaced contacts. a movable contact, means including anindicator for shifting the movable contact to bring it into the path ofmovement of any one of the series of contacts, a sounding device in anopen energized circuit including the movable contact and the contactdisk, an armature for the magnet normally holding the disk againstturning movement, and means actuated by movement neeapei of the armatureto release the disk for placing the transmitter in the telephonecircuit.

2. The combination with a telephone instrument and circuit therefor, ofa transmitter, an electro-magnet, means for cutting the telephoneinstrument out of the telephone circuit and the magnet into thetelephone circuit, a contact carrying disk mounted for rotation andformed in its peripheral edge with a notch, an armature for the magnetadapted to seat in the notch when the magnet is unenergized to hold thedisk and adapted to be held in raised position by the disk duringturning of the latter, means constantly tending to turn the disk, aplurality of series of contacts carried by the disk, a movable contactengageable with the contacts of each series, means including anindicator for selectively shifting the movable contact so that it mayengage the contacts of any desired series, a sounding device, anenergized circuit including the sounding device, contact disk andmovable contact and normally open between the movable contact and thecontacts of the disk, and means operable upon energization of the magnetfor connecting the transmitter in the telephone circuit.

3. The combination with a telephone instrument and circuit therefor, ofa transmitter, an electro-magnet, means for cutting the telephoneinstrument out of the telephone circuit and the magnet into thetelephone circuit, an armature for the magnet, an audible signalproducing mechanism normally locked by the armature, releasable uponmovement of the armature through attraction of the magnet and capable ofholding the armature in attracted position until the signal has beencompleted, and means operable upon closing of a circuit through themagnet for breaking the circuit through the magnet and connecting thetransmitter in the telephone circuit.

4. The combination with a telephone instrument and circuit therefor, ofa transm tter, an electro-magnet, means for cutting the telephoneinstrument out of the telephone circuit and the magnet into thetelephone circuit, and means operable upon ene gization of the magnetthrough energization of the telephone circuit for connecting thetransmitter in the telephone circuit and giving an audible signal injuxtaposition to the transmitter, said means being adjustable wherebyany one of a predetermined number of different signals may be given andincluding a disk normally locked by magnet controlled means, meansconstantly tending to rotate the disk, a plurality of contactsconcentrically arranged about the disk in radially spaced series, a rodmounted for" reciprocation and'carrying a contact brush movable toextend 1n the path of any series,

means including a rotatable indicator care:

rying shaft for adjustably reciprocating the rod, an electric audiblesignal device, and an energized circuit including the signal device, rodand disk and normally open be tween the contact carried by the rod andthose carried by the disk.

5. A device of the character described, an electro-magnet adapted to beout into a tele-- phone circuit, an armature for the magnet, an audiblesignal producing mechanism normally locked by the armature, releasableupon movement of the armature through attraction of the magnet andcapable of holding the armature in attracted position until the signalhas been completed, and means operable upon closing of a circuit throughthe magnet for immediately breaking such circuit.

6. The combination with a telephone instrument and circuit therefor, ofa transmitter, means operable by the transmission of a ringing impulseover the telephone circuit for cutting the transmitter into such circuitand means operable upon the cutting in of the transmitter to sound anaudible signal indicating a predetermined time, such means being capableof giving relatively long sounds to indicate hours and relatively shortsounds to indicate fractional portions of an hour.

7 The combination with a telephone circuit, of an electroinagnet in thecircuit, a transmitter, an electrically operated audible signalmechanism, means normally rendering the signal mechanism inactive, andmeans operable upon energization of the electromagnet for rendering thesignal mechanism active, cutting the transmitter into the telephonecircuit and for breaking the circuit to the electroinagnet.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

EDMUND ROGERS. [1,. s.]

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G.

